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Malawi White Silver Tip Loose Leaf White Tea

4 reviews
$24.00
$24.00
$0.64 per cup
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A rare and exquisite loose leaf white tea from Satemwa in Malawi (East Africa).

From a region so well known for its extraordinary black tea, comes a remarkable and groundbreaking whole leaf white tea.

Rich, complex fruit notes and precise, elegant tannins. The wet leaf has an entrancing aroma of petrichor.

Tasting Notes

A gentle, sweet start leads to a savoury green middle with a deep peachy note and precise tannins. Clean and fresh with a lovely minerality, drinking this elegant tea is like cupping your hands in a bubbling stream passing through a stone fruit orchard. The wet leaf has an entrancing aroma of petrichor.

Origin

Satemwa Estate, Shire Highlands, Malawi

Cost Per Cup

$0.64 per cup based on 2g of tea per 150ml of water and 3 infusions.
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🍃 HIGH IMPACT TEA

While all of our teas are the best available from around the world, this tea makes a vital socioeconomic impact on the community that grows and crafts it.

With these high-impact teas, we are shining a light on the people who most need our support.

A prosperous nation like Japan, with a long history and strong domestic market, commands great prices for great tea. Land, labour and expertise are highly valued. Demand for the most famous teas often outstrips supply and buyers compete to get their hands on the best.

For less fortunate economies, where even safe drinking water is not a given, tea is an export. Origins are obscured. Terroirs hidden. If all we are shown is a packet and a brand with no connection to the people and place it comes from, we remain ignorant of its impact.

Many people do not know that much of the tea they drink comes from places like Malawi in East Africa. They are unaware that land, labour and expertise are given little value; that their tea is traded as a commodity by giant multinational agribusinesses, bought for low cost and high quantity over quality; that the farmer has no control of the price. Nor do they know that people in tea communities often do not live beyond their 50s.

It is our business to change that, to establish a value market for their incredible craft and amazing terroirs, much like fine wine.

Recommended Infusion Guide

  • Quantity

    Use 2g of tea per 150ml of water.

  • Temperature

    For the optimum infusion use 75°C water.

  • Time

    Infuse for 1 - 2 minutes, tasting regularly

  • Infusions

    You can infuse this tea at least three times. With each careful infusion, different subtleties of flavour are revealed.

1 3

More infusion tips

How to infuse your tea is very personal, and these are just our recommendations based on experience. Please experiment with these variables to your heart's delight. These are our recommendations, not hard and fast rules. The most delicious tea is the one you love.

Our guide uses a standard tea cup size (150ml/5.5 oz) as a measure, please adjust the quantity of leaf accordingly for less or more water. Our whole loose leaves are of such a high quality that you can infuse our teas at least twice, and the second infusion is often better than the first, with different flavours revealed as the leaf softens. If you prefer your tea stronger, add more leaf, don’t leave it for longer (this will just make it bitter).

Alex and his late father Chip began experimenting with loose, whole leaf white teas in the early 2000s after three generations of making purely black tea.

They found that the best flavours came from using fast oxidising varietals usually used to make black teas. This was a revelation, and brings very unique flavours not found in white teas from anywhere else in the world.

They are only able to produce tiny amounts of white silver tip buds, and only when conditions are exactly right. A good winter rain, just at the crucial moment before the spring flush, is critical to produce the best silver tips.

Crafted only from delicate leaf buds before they unfold into the new flush (fresh set of leaves). The hand harvesting is meticulous - to catch the best tea leaf buds, just at the point of maturity but before it bursts open.

Whilst holding all the soft, sweetness you’d expect from a silver tip tea, these buds have remarkable complexity and depth - testament to the nutrient-rich soil and the remarkable terroir where the tea bushes flourish on Satemwa.

Shipping, delivery & more...

Canada Shipping Information

🚨CANADA POST STRIKE UPDATE 22/10/2025 🚨

Canada Tracked Delivery and Canada Express Tracked Delivery (both free and paid versions) have been re-enabled following the move to rotating strikes by the CUPW. Please see our delivery page for more information

Canada Tracked Delivery from CAN$12

FREE Canada Tracked Delivery when you spend CAN$80 or more

Canada Express Tracked Delivery from CAN$14

FREE Canada Express Tracked Delivery when you spend CAN$100 or more

Canada Express Courier Delivery from CAN$52

Availability of rates depends on location and order weight. For a complete overview of our shipping rates please see our delivery page. Prices displayed at the checkout are based on live currency exchange rates and may differ slightly from the listed price.

Returns

The Rare Tea Lady believes that our teas are some of the greatest in the world, and that our range and service are second to none.

In the isolated case that you are not completely satisfied with any product you purchase from our website, please get in contact with our customer services team to discuss returning your order.*

In most instances, we will give you a full refund of the item's cost, excluding postage. We may ask you to return the item to us.** Customers in the UK & European Union have statutory rights not affected by this guarantee, but any bags of tea must remained sealed for this to be in effect.

*We only accept returns/refunds for tea within 30 days of receipt, because it is impossible for us to know if the tea has been stored correctly.

**We will endeavour to ask for pictures where possible - but if you have changed your mind and are outside of any statutory rights time period, return postage is payable by you.

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